There's No Place Like Home......

[thornton0511]

Ha, well that is quite the different entrance from earlier. I like arriving later in the day since it feels more relaxed somehow.
yes I could see where you are coming from, for us though there is just something about the rush of excitement from rope drop and being in the park those first few hours in the morning. I would not trade that time for all the money in the world.
You kill me with the "Magic Carpet Ride of Death". At least my fear of Small World has psycho killer dolls.
hey....at least my fear is more realistic Rob. Which do you think is more bound to happen, falling to your death on the carpet ride, or really being attacked by killer dolls.....what if you were attacked by killer dolls on the carpet ride and fell to your death... now that is scary lol
I'm the same in that I don't need to ride Jungle Cruise every trip. But at 15 minutes... yeah you do it. And boy do I have a Jungle Cruise story. But... no spoilers.
no cliff hangers!! C'mon Rob
I am really looking forward to riding 7DMT again. I got a FP for late, so it should be dark. I think that will make a huge difference.
I hope you enjoy it! It really is a different ride at night
Hmmmm... that is an interesting teaser for the next day there Jenn.

he he

 

[thornton0511]

Crying Uncle

Before I can get to the start of our next day I need to backtrack a bit to the night before after we got back to our resort, and more importantly, our room. We had returned from a full day at the magic kingdom. It was late, we were tired, but we were happy…..until we scanned our magic bands to open the door to our room and walked in. That’s when it became apparent that mousekeeping had not been to our room….at all today. The beds were still unmade, the trash was full, and most importantly the towels were all still in a pile where we had left them. We had gone one full day since we checked into CSR without a mishap. Apparently this was not a trend that was meant to continue unfortunately. It was very late in the evening at this point and we were tired and the only thing that we had wanted to accomplish was getting cleaned up and going to bed. I could not even wrap my brain around what would cause this to happen. We had been at the park most of the day and even when we had taken a break in the afternoon we were not in our room for an extended amount of time. We also had not left a do not disturb sign on the door or anything. I was completely baffled, but at this point I did not even care to wonder why. DH called down to someone to let them know that housekeeping did not come and could someone at least bring us some clean towels.

Then we sat, and we waited, and waited, and waited. No one came. So DH feeling ever so frustrated at this point, felt the need for a walk. So he walked down to the lobby, to cool off a bit, and to try and get the things we needed. He returned a bit later with towels and a bag full of shampoo, soap, and the other things that they usually restock the rooms with. No one really said a word and we went through the routine of getting ready for bed. Once all 4 of us had showered and changed it was beyond late and we were all so exhausted that we pretty much fell asleep before our heads could hit the pillows on our unmade beds. What a sour way to end what was such a wonderful day. And the worst part was, not once did anyone apologize for our room somehow getting skipped.

So the next morning……

We slept in. Somewhat. Our plans today did not include rope drop in a park so thankfully we were able to get a little bit more sleep. Turns out it was just what we needed too. We all woke up ready to start a brand new day and no one seemed upset about our little mishap from last night. Except for one thing.

To be honest I was not even sure if I wanted to put this part or our trip into the story because what happened next is something that my family is not custom to doing, and I hate that we even got to the point where we felt the need to be these people, but unfortunate things seemed to keep happening and we were at the point where we were ready to call uncle. So after getting home and thinking about how I wanted to approach this trip report, I ultimately decided that I want to write an honest trip report, and in order to do that I had to not only include the good things and magical things, but also the not so great. So in saying all of this I hope that no one who reads this thinks that we are a family who complains ( we love Disney!) or feels entitled to things (because no trip is perfect and if you have those expectations you will only be left with disappointment). So I just wanted to add this little insert in before I continue with the story so that hopefully those of you who are wonderful enough to be reading my report can understand where I am coming from.

We had decided that it was time we talked to someone about our train of bad luck that we had been experiencing since our check in to this resort. So we made our way down to the lobby, not really sure of who we would even need to speak to or where to go. We sent the kids off to wander around El Centro and DH and I ended up just walking up to the registration desk. Neither of us knew if this was the appropriate place but we figured if not that maybe they could lead us in the right direction. We walked up and kindly asked the CM if there was a manager we could speak to about a few mishaps we had encountered. She walked away into another room and I suddenly felt as if the entire resort was looking at us and whispering “entitled complainers” I was starting to second guess myself. Obviously no one was even paying us attention and it was all in my head, but I could not help but think that by doing this I was somehow betraying Disney.

Within a few moments a nice older lady came out with the CM that we had spoken to. She kindly introduced herself and thankfully lead us over to the side where we could privately speak to her. I was really hoping to not have this conversation right in the middle of the registration desk. She was very patient and very friendly and gave us the time we needed to tell our story without interrupting .
We told her how we love Disney and make this our family vacation destination and that nothing could ever change that. And kept harping on how we understand that things are going to happen and sometimes Disney has no control of unfortunate things and we did not blame Disney for things happening because that is just silly and unrealistic to thing that anyone has control over things like this. But at the same time we did feel that when a problem arises there seemed to be a lack of response or helping to find a solution. She seemed genuinely sympathetic to our string of bad luck and understood our frustration with how things were handled when problems arose and how no one seemed to feel responsible to step up and help us sort it all out. She then offered us a set of fast passes for our inconvenience, and while we grateful for the offer, we told her that was not the purpose of our talking to a manager, and we did not feel that it was right for us to take her up on her offer. We then asked instead if there was someone we could go to personally if anything else was to happen on our trip, who would genuinely want to help us. For example with the housekeeping issue, when that happened it would have been great to have someone we could have contacted and had the towels and things brought to us quickly, instead of having the issue essentially fall between the cracks and then we were left to go and fetch the items ourselves. She then laughed a bit and understood what we asking and smiled as she handed us her card with her contact number on it. She said that if anything else unfortunate happened to us that she would be more than happy to help us and to call her. How awesome is that? I literally wanted to hug this woman for this. It was unfortunate, I think, that I felt that I could not rely on the staff at the resort to make things right but now I felt like the world could bring on any issues and we had someone in our corner ready to help us, and no longer would we have to feel like we were all alone and out of luck. This is why I love Disney.

As awkward as it was for us to go this route, in the end I am glad that we did. Only because I felt like someone cared about us and our experience, and genuinely wanted us to know that Disney had our back. And so for me, that made it worth it.

After we thanked her for her time and parted ways we gathered the kids up and made our way to the bus stop. It was officially time to start our new adventure! Downtown Disney here we come!!!
​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Jenn, I'll just say it as plainly and to the point as I can. You did the right thing. I still can't believe that your room was completely untouched all day. That's crazy. But things happen. But to not respond immediately with you request for some mere fresh towels and such, yeah, I would have been upset too. I hate "complaining" too, but more than that, I hate being in a position that requires a complaint. And you were absolutely in that position. Believe me, many would have gone overboard in that complaint. But you handled it exactly right. Disney trips are wonderful things, but not every moment is perfect. I think by adding in this story only helps people to know that just because it's Disney, mistakes can still be made. And if these types of things do happen to others, they'll at least know it's not personal.

 

[thornton0511]

Jenn, I'll just say it as plainly and to the point as I can. You did the right thing. I still can't believe that your room was completely untouched all day. That's crazy. But things happen. But to not respond immediately with you request for some mere fresh towels and such, yeah, I would have been upset too. I hate "complaining" too, but more than that, I hate being in a position that requires a complaint. And you were absolutely in that position. Believe me, many would have gone overboard in that complaint. But you handled it exactly right. Disney trips are wonderful things, but not every moment is perfect. I think by adding in this story only helps people to know that just because it's Disney, mistakes can still be made. And if these types of things do happen to others, they'll at least know it's not personal.

Thanks Rob.

 

[thornton0511]

Lunch at Wolfgang Puck Express



Once we got to the bus stop at CSR it took no time at all for a DTD bus to arrive. Before we knew it we were walking into Marketplace which is my favorite area in all of DTD. We typically go to DTD in the evening and so the vibe here during the day was very different, and cool. There were hardly any people here at 11am. I like both but they are very different.



Since the kiddos had skipped breakfast this morning we thought that an early lunch at WPE was in order. As you can imagine no one else was really busting the door down to get pizza this early lol.



See. Well there were a few other people, but I am guessing that since WPE serves breakfast too that most of these people were finishing up their late breakfast.



We looked the menu over to see what sounded good for an early lunch. I was no where near starving yet.



So I went with a familiar pizza that I normally choose when we eat here, a Four Cheese Pesto, and it is oh so very good.



DH went with the traditional Pepperoni, also quite good



DS went with his favorite, Cavatappi Chicken Alfredo, minus the baby peas and with the bacon on the side



And DD went with the ordinary kids cheese piza



Since we were on the lovely and ever so filling DDP for dessert DH and I both went with the Crème Brulee which never disappoints



And both kids chose am enormous brownie that they both ended up taking home with us.



After lunch we made our journey through DTD and the near empty walkways.



Syd stopped for a moment to say hi to Cinderella



And Cory decided to try and blend in with the Lego family with no success. Good try though!



We had now killed enough time and headed to our destination for the day. We were about to experience something new for us at Disney…..
​

 

[BellaBaby]

Jenn, I'll just say it as plainly and to the point as I can. You did the right thing. I still can't believe that your room was completely untouched all day. That's crazy. But things happen. But to not respond immediately with you request for some mere fresh towels and such, yeah, I would have been upset too. I hate "complaining" too, but more than that, I hate being in a position that requires a complaint. And you were absolutely in that position. Believe me, many would have gone overboard in that complaint. But you handled it exactly right. Disney trips are wonderful things, but not every moment is perfect. I think by adding in this story only helps people to know that just because it's Disney, mistakes can still be made. And if these types of things do happen to others, they'll at least know it's not personal.

Very well put!! ITA!!

Sorry you had to deal with that!! I hope there are not many more mishaps!!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

You are so right Jenn. The difference between night and day at DTD is well, like night and day. As you know I'm quite the word smith.

Mmmmmmm... Wolfgang Puck Express. This was the one I didn't go to, but I fully appreciate that pretty much no matter where you are in DTD, there's a WPE nearby. This should be the case everywhere I think.

Actually, I think Cory's blending is pretty good. Like Where's Waldo!

Hmmmmm... are you going to DisneyQuest?

 

[thornton0511]

Very well put!! ITA!!
I agree
Sorry you had to deal with that!! I hope there are not many more mishaps!!

no worries.....all in the past now and it makes for a good story lol

You are so right Jenn. The difference between night and day at DTD is well, like night and day. As you know I'm quite the word smith.
lol you crack me up
Mmmmmmm... Wolfgang Puck Express. This was the one I didn't go to, but I fully appreciate that pretty much no matter where you are in DTD, there's a WPE nearby. This should be the case everywhere I think.
I'm so glad that you finally made it to one! They are very very good. You should definitely try the one in Marketplace next time, I think that they offer more stuff or something
Actually, I think Cory's blending is pretty good. Like Where's Waldo!
lol
Hmmmmm... are you going to DisneyQuest?

I dunno but the following post should tell you.......

 

[thornton0511]

Disney Quest



Ah yes…..we were about to go into uncharted territory. Good old Disney Quest, the big blue building that so many seem to pass by but never going in. What exactly is in there? A bunch of video games? Who wants to do that lol. These were all thoughts that I had in the past when I would plan for trips to WDW and came across the vouchers for this place that are included with your Disney package.

But this trip was all about new experiences and so we thought that it would be nice to change things up a bit and do an off day from the parks and visit DTD and see what exactly this Disney Quest is all about.

Now like I mentioned we had vouchers for 2 included with our Disney package that we had booked through Disney Travel Co. These are included in the book that you typically receive before you travel date along with your luggage tags and other coupons like mini golf, and discounts on marina rentals, and that sort of thing. Well after we had received our book of coupons we had decided that we wanted to add a day to our reservation package and so they ended up sending us another book full of coupons, including 2 more Disney Quest vouchers. So now we had a total of 4, but I was not sure if that meant that we could use all four. I did as much research on this trying to find out if this was even possible and could not really get an answer either way. So we decided to go into it expecting to use 2 vouchers, and having to pay for the other two admissions, but that we would take all four and ask just incase.

We went to the ticket counter and spoke to the CM about receiving the additional coupons and if we could use all 4 or only 2 and she said no problems on using 4.….which meant that we all got in for free….which was awesome! Especially since parents had to pay for admission even if they do not plan on interacting with anything inside, you still have to pay.



Once we had traded in our vouchers we headed inside the main entrance. We were lead into a lobby area with an elevator directly ahead. Once you go through the guarded entrance you scan you magic bands and head straight into the elevator.



This takes you directly up to the different floors of Disney Quest. Each floor is a bit different and offers an array of games and interactive things to do, as well as some food vendors.



We decided to start on the level that included a lot of the interactive or virtual reality games, as my research had told me that typically these will have the longest wait, if you go at a busy time. Apparently 12:00 on a Wednesday in Sept in not a busy time lol! Sorry for the dark pics by the way. It was really hard to get good pictures in here but I wanted to try and do my best to explain Disney Quest.



We decided to start with Jungle Cruise.



You go into these little room sections that are separated by walls and sit in the middle of this inflatable boat on the ground in front of a large screen. A CM brings everyone a paddle that has these roller wheels attached to the bottom of them. Then once everyone is seated this blue tarp thing that the boat sits on inflates and so it’s almost as if you are sitting in an inflatable boat in a bouncy house. The screen starts and you have to row around the water on the screen using the paddles and actually row the direction you want to go. I should also mention that your boat kind of moves up and down while you are rowing. It was not the easiest task in the world but I will say it was fun and we got a lot of laughs as we tried to synchronize our rowing and not fall off the waterfall. Epic fail lol. But it was fun all the same.


Directly behind JC is Pirates of the Caribbean which is another virtual reality type experience.



You wait in a queue area for a CM to come and get you and take you back one of the different rooms they have set up for the experience.



Then you wait for her to explain how it all works and suit you up with your 3D glasses. While we were waiting for her to set up our room we got to see another group experiencing this since there are glass doors leading to each interactive room. Essentially you walk onto a boat set up in a tiny room that is surrounded by screens. You then pick one person to be the captain and it’s their job to man the wheel and move the ship around in the sea to different targets. Then everyone else stands in front of a cannon (much like the pull strings you use on TSMM) and you have to fire at enemy ships and ghost pirates and sea monsters. That sort of thing lol. And it’s all in 3D.



Sydney decided that she wanted to be the captain this time around and she got in position.



DH, Cory and I found our positions in front of our respective cannons. This kind of shows you how it’s similar to TSMM.

Even though this ride is somewhat dated it was still a blast. Like the previous ride you have to all work together as a team to get as many points as possible. After we were done the CM asked if we wanted another go around and we figured why not lol!



This time Cory wanted to be the captain lol.



I think that I remember there being more cannon posts than we had family members so often throughout the game we had to leave our station and run over to another cannon and start shooting and we could not stop laughing at all of the running back and forth we were doing. We had a blast!

Continued Next Post…….
​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Well, even though I guess it was pretty obvious from the last photo on the prior update, I will still take pride in guessing DisneyQuest.

Now that is a pretty good technique there Jenn. Book a package, add a day or so after the fact, get more coupons!!! Awesome strategy, lol. That is pretty awesome that you get to try this out for free. No real risk there.

I know you're not done, but thanks for the insight into these. I rarely see much about Disney Quest, so it's very interesting to get an idea of what it's all about.

 

[thornton0511]

Well, even though I guess it was pretty obvious from the last photo on the prior update, I will still take pride in guessing DisneyQuest.

Now that is a pretty good technique there Jenn. Book a package, add a day or so after the fact, get more coupons!!! Awesome strategy, lol. That is pretty awesome that you get to try this out for free. No real risk there.

I know you're not done, but thanks for the insight into these. I rarely see much about Disney Quest, so it's very interesting to get an idea of what it's all about.

First of all good job on the guessing Rob we could have easily had been going to Wetzel's Pretzels as our new experience...you never know! What makes you think that was my strategy lol?! I assure you friend I did not add a day on later for extra coupons . I wanted to try and give some insight into DQ since there really does not seem to be a whole lot of info out there about what is in that building.

 

[thornton0511]

More Disney Quest Fun



After 2 games in a row we were ready to move on to the third interactive experience on this level. Magic Carpets. I felt pretty confident that unlike the Carpet Ride of Death at MK that I would not fall to my uncertain death on the virtual reality version lol.



This room is set up with little machine things that you sit on and attach the virtual reality headset to the thing hanging above you from the ceiling. I know that my description of this technology and using terms like “machine thing” makes it so easy for you guys to understand lol.



These are the helmets that you wear and attach to the other part that hangs from the ceiling that essentially syncs you up with the game. We were all 4 loaded into the same game, or experience, and the point of the game was that you fly around on your magic carpet trying to work together to gather jewels or something. This type of experience is hard for me to visually see and I finally gave up and just kind of randomly flew around on my magic carpet until the game ended lol. I think that this technology was probably pretty cool many moons ago but it’s just not as relevant as it once was. This ride was probably our least favorite of the 3 big ones on this level. But it was cool to try out.



Next we headed to a different level that contained Cyber Space Mountain. Only Cory and DH did this one and from what they said it sounds a lot like the make your own rollercoaster deal that they have at Epcot in Innoventions. They were able to make their own track including inversions and hills and whatever and then you get in a capsule and ride out what rollercoaster you make. There is also an option to purchase the ride you make and watch on a DVD but we decided against it. DH thought it was okay. He seems to get queasy with certain simulator rides, but DS absolutely loved it! He literally ended up doing this over and over a million times while we were there.



So meanwhile the boys were off doing that, Syd and I decided to take an animation class that happened to be starting in just a few minutes and was right next to the rollercoaster thing.



We found a seat and there ended up being only one other person participating in the class lol. The instructor gave us the basic instructions and also told us about how long the class is. It’s all digital and not hand drawn. For this class we were going to be drawing Mickey Mouse. Sydney kind of had a hard time keeping up and would get frustrated with her Mickey. I told her not to worry and just draw him the way she wanted and not to worry about how it looks. Then I told her to look at my sad excuse of a Mickey head (it was awful lol) and she no longer felt bad about hers lol.

I did not get a picture of our drawings because he mentioned that you could purchase a copy if you wanted to take them with you and I felt because of that it would no be appropriate to take a picture of the screens. This was just okay for both of us. I do think that we would both enjoy the drawing class at Hollywood Studios sometime since that one is hand drawn instead of a digital screen type deal, and I think that you get to take you drawing home with you free of charge, where as we would have to purchase a print our of these.



So after we finished our drawing class we found the boys on another level playing some sort of shooting video game.



We made our way though the middle hub on one of the levels that has different rooms attached with various video games and stuff. This place really is huge and there is so much to do. All video game related obviously.



The boys wanted to try our the Astroblasters, Sydney unfortunately was too short to do this. Basically it’s a big arena where you get into these cart things and scoop up plastic balls with your car and then shoot them at other cars. I am guessing that there is a height restriction due to a safety issue or maybe not being big enough to drive the cars. I dunno.



Sydney was not too heartbroken however and had no problem finding something else to do.



The other bad thing about this ride is that they will not operate it unless there are a certain amount of people to warrant starting the ride up, I guess, and so the boys had to wait for several more people to get in line before they would let them in lol. Finally enough people showed up in line and they let them into the arena to choose their vehicles. Then after everyone got situated the there seemed to be some kind of technical error and everyone had to get off lol. Epic fail. We decided to just move on at this point.



Around this time everyone was feeling the need for a soda break and we found Wonderland Café. This is set up like an arcade counter service vendor where you walk up to the counter and choose your selection of food or drink and then they have tables and chairs set up around the perimeter of the room and everything is fashioned like Alice in Wonderland. I thought this was a very cool setup.



We sat for a spell and enjoyed our drinks and snack selections. This place does accept the DDP and snack credits.

After our little break we decided that a little old fashioned arcade fun was in order.

Continued next post……
​

 

[thornton0511]

Spending an Entire Afternoon at DQ



We then made our way to a room that had just classic arcade type thing s that you would find anywhere, including a 4 man air hockey table. This made for a fun family game of air hockey too!!!



Next the kids took a shot at one of those dance things that I am way to under coordinated to even attempt lo.



The boys then took a stab at Guitar Hero



While I watched Sydney try her luck at the largest version of Tetris I had ever seen!



Then the kids had fun with things like connect four…..



And whatever this game was lol!



Then I found Sydney in a ride that she is probably too big for….ha!



And the boys seemed obsessed with a game where you push a button to make a lizard’s tongue extend and knock down bugs on a rotating wheel lol.



Cory and I battled each other a the old knock out the horse’s teeth with a shooting ball game



And then we moved on to a level that had more modern type games



Yeah I did not even attempt this one lol



At this point we had been here for quite some time and the combination of flashing lights and lack of sunshine were getting the best of me so I headed back up to the level that Wonderland Café was one while the other members of my family continued on with unlimited access to every type of video game imaginable



While they continued to play I enjoyed the nice peacefulness of an oversized wonderland chair and a quiet room.



Eventually I did rejoin my family and we tried our best at this human version of pinball that we never fully got the concept of lol.



Somehow we ventured upon another virtual reality game that included some sort of light saber thing that you used to ward off enemies. It was kind of meh.



DH really enjoyed finding classic games from his childhood like Karate Champ that he had not seen since probably the 80’s lol.



And Syd stumbled across Wreck it Ralph himself!! Well the plastic version anyways.



The kids continued ahead with more arcade type games



And there were some pretty good ones too like this one that you seemed fully immersed in.



Ugh it made me sick just looking at it lol.



At this point it was now evening and we had literally spent an entire afternoon inside Disney Quest. I was beyond being mentally exhausted as was the DH. He joined me on the sitting area by the giant Pinocchio head. While we let the kids, who were still full of energy and not ready to quite call it quits, roam around a bit more. As long as they stayed on the same level that we were resting on.


They played a few more video games and Syd did some kind of easel painting thing, while Cory did a few more rounds of Cyber Space Mountain.

Then we decided to call it quits for DQ. From my experience with my family on Disney Quest I would say if you haven’t done it, and you have vouchers to get in for free or discounted, and you have kiddos that enjoy this type of thing, you should try it at least once. If I had ended up paying full price for this it would in no way been worth my money. There is quite a lot to do here but IMO most of this stuff is very outdated and for the price they charge they need to definitely do some updating . The technology is just so outdated. But for us getting in free it was definitely fun. Would we ever do it again? Not sure. I feel like this is something off my bucket list and I feel no need to ever return, unless they somehow managed to get some new cutting edge technology rides in there. My kiddos, however, absolutely had a blast and we literally had to drag them out even after being there all day long. They would want to go back in a heartbeat.

So all in all I am glad that we did it and it was something new that we got to add to our Disney adventures. Take it for what it’s worth. We did come out of it with some great family memories and got some really great family quality time too. So with that being said we headed out back into what was left of the sunshine. We did stop at a store that is connected to DQ and I purchased a new Disney coffee mug to add to my collection.



It’s my new favorite. Especially since I am obsessed with the monorail and the Spanish announcement to stand clear of the doors lol. Just like any good DIS member!!

Continued next post…….
​

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

I'm just totally picturing you walking up and seeing Aladdin's Magic carpet Ride and thinking... Seriously, even here. I guess a simulation is, in theory, less likely to cause death.

I have a feeling Cyber Space Mountain wouldn't do it for me. I've tried the one at Epcot and was really underwhelmed. Just too "video game looking" for me. But nice that Cory enjoyed it since he was actually there and I was not.

Ah see, you're a good mom making Sydney feel better about her drawing.

I don't like that you have to pay for your drawing though. That just seems odd to me.

Haha, that photo of Sydney playing the video game is so cute and comical. Is she into dance per chance?

A 4 man air hockey table??? Now THAT sounds like fun.

Great summation Jenn. This was never on my to do list really, although the curiosity factor still does exist. So... I'm patiently waiting for some free coupons to try.

I have not seen that Mug before (I do have the shirt). It may just find itself coming home with me.

 

[SimplyGoofy]

I believe you asked about this weeks ago, but our May vacation will include two nights at the Grand Floridian. (!) It's my sister's absolute favorite Disney resort, and as the upcoming trip is to celebrate her high school graduation, I felt this was a good time for this "once in a lifetime" experience. It pains me a bit (or a lot!) to pay that much for two nights in a hotel, even at a discount, , but I REALLY look forward to Anika's reaction to this choice as all the details of the trip are still a surprise!

Back to your trip report...

What a full and wonderful day at Magic Kingdom! I'm really looking forward to experiencing the 7DMT, and I will do my best to try it both during the day and at night. I also appreciate the advice about rocking the car - hopefully we're sitting near awesome people!

It's too bad you kept running into issues at your resort. I agree with Rob that you were right to say something. It's never wrong to discuss problems when you do so in a polite and constructive manner.

Mmmm, WPE! I LOVE that place and hope we'll stop in for at least a quick snack (cheesecake, maybe?) during our next trip.

Thank you, thank you for the full review of Disney Quest! I think we're finally going to make it in there this time due to the length of our trip (and the fact that we only have 10 allowed park days). We're "essentially" not paying for it, as we'll have the WPFAM option on our tickets due to our wish to visit the waterparks. I think it will be fun to try it once - I'm most looking forward to the regular, old-school video games! (And hooray for Guitar Hero! I pulled out my Playstation for the first time in five years this past weekend - I wasn't too bad considering the how long it was since I last played!)

 

[thornton0511]

I'm just totally picturing you walking up and seeing Aladdin's Magic carpet Ride and thinking... Seriously, even here. I guess a simulation is, in theory, less likely to cause death.
lol yeah I know right?
I have a feeling Cyber Space Mountain wouldn't do it for me. I've tried the one at Epcot and was really underwhelmed. Just too "video game looking" for me. But nice that Cory enjoyed it since he was actually there and I was not.
see and I don't even think that he is aware that this even exists at Innoventions. To be honest I would not think he would like this kind of thing because he is not big on upside down and being in close, tight spaces. Glad he did like it though. As for you I can imagine someone who likes dueling dragons and the Hulk might be underwhelmed with this lol
Ah see, you're a good mom making Sydney feel better about her drawing.
of course! and mine was pretty darn bad too lol
I don't like that you have to pay for your drawing though. That just seems odd to me.
oh they wanted to charge extra for all sorts of things like that, it was very not what I was expecting
Haha, that photo of Sydney playing the video game is so cute and comical. Is she into dance per chance?
lol are you saying that because she is standing like a flamingo? she used to do gymnastics and we tried ballet for a few months but she was not digging the ballet scene unfortunately so it looks like we might go back to gymnastics
A 4 man air hockey table??? Now THAT sounds like fun.
yeah it really was a lot of fun!!
Great summation Jenn. This was never on my to do list really, although the curiosity factor still does exist. So... I'm patiently waiting for some free coupons to try.
lol well if you ever get the opportunity and don't have to shell out a bunch a dough and have nothing better to do then I say go
I have not seen that Mug before (I do have the shirt). It may just find itself coming home with me.

oh it's my favorite! I am the only coffee drinker in my family (well except oddly enough Sydney likes it but I'm not sure I want my 8 year old to drink coffee at her age on a regular basis ) have you seen the new ones that they just came out with that are being sold at Starbucks in Disney?! I think the theme is "you are here" or something. anyways the Epcot one is probably going to be my next cup purchase in Aug when we go back! they are so cool!!

I believe you asked about this weeks ago, but our May vacation will include two nights at the Grand Floridian. (!) It's my sister's absolute favorite Disney resort, and as the upcoming trip is to celebrate her high school graduation, I felt this was a good time for this "once in a lifetime" experience. It pains me a bit (or a lot!) to pay that much for two nights in a hotel, even at a discount, , but I REALLY look forward to Anika's reaction to this choice as all the details of the trip are still a surprise!
no worries! oh wow the GF!! that sounds amazing!! what a great sister you are and what an awesome way to celebrate her graduation too!! I sure that she will be surprised and super excited and appreciative of what you are putting in to this trip for you two you guys are going to have a blast
Back to your trip report...

What a full and wonderful day at Magic Kingdom! I'm really looking forward to experiencing the 7DMT, and I will do my best to try it both during the day and at night. I also appreciate the advice about rocking the car - hopefully we're sitting near awesome people!
it really is a wonderful Disney ride....not so much of a thrill but I think it's the next gen on a great classic Disney ride
It's too bad you kept running into issues at your resort. I agree with Rob that you were right to say something. It's never wrong to discuss problems when you do so in a polite and constructive manner.
I'm just so glad that so far everyone is not having negative reactions to the situation and how we handled it. I did not want to come off in a bad way...I really did feel like I was betraying Disney at the time
Mmmm, WPE! I LOVE that place and hope we'll stop in for at least a quick snack (cheesecake, maybe?) during our next trip.
oh my goodness yes...cheesecake!!! nom nom nom!! lol
Thank you, thank you for the full review of Disney Quest! I think we're finally going to make it in there this time due to the length of our trip (and the fact that we only have 10 allowed park days). We're "essentially" not paying for it, as we'll have the WPFAM option on our tickets due to our wish to visit the waterparks. I think it will be fun to try it once - I'm most looking forward to the regular, old-school video games! (And hooray for Guitar Hero! I pulled out my Playstation for the first time in five years this past weekend - I wasn't too bad considering the how long it was since I last played!)

oh yeah I say go for it then! I bet you will enjoy it. It's like I mentioned to Rob earlier that I would recommend it if you don't have to pay full price, and you have the time and nothing better to do one afternoon, totally worth it atleast once. I have heard though that if you go on a day with bad weather or at night that it is pretty crowded. Since we went early on a weekday there was hardly anyone there and we had the run of the place pretty much. I really wanted to do a more in depth report of DQ but I was just so busy experiencing everything myself with the fam that I did not have the time to take more pics and give more details than I did. But I really do wish that someone would do a really good in depth report on this place because there really is not a whole lot of info out there for this place and for someone like me to wants to know every little detail, trying to plan for this was quite frustrating. I really did not know what to expect. Anyways now I'm just babbling lol

 

[thornton0511]

Hanging out in Downtown Disney

After leaving Disney Quest and stepping back out into the world we decided to hang out in DTD for just a bit of time. I ran across one of the new Starbucks that is located in DTD and I loved the look of it! Really cool.

We then hit the Lego store for a few minutes. Cory wanted to build and purchase a few Lego guys to take home with him.

I noticed one of the food trucks parked off to the side. This apparently is a new thing at DTD. It reminded me of the ice cream truck at DAK by Everest lol.

Sydney and I then popped into Basin for a bit so that I could refill my bath bomb supply at home and we could also get my sister a little thank you gift for taking care of our fur babies while we were in Disney this week.
I guess that we were in there longer than I thought because DH and DS came in to check on us. I was trying to talk DH into buying another bar of mosquito repellent soap when I noticed my kiddos up to no good.

Yup. I have those kids. The ones that go over and play with the bath salts in Basin like it’s a colored sandbox. I decided now was the time to make my purchases and get out quickly lol.

The kids posed for a few pics and we were just enjoying walking around and hanging out without feeling like we had to rush to get to A and B at a certain time.

Of course not trip to DTD can be complete without a stop in World of Disney. I love this store so much!!!

Sydney ended up picking out something she just could not live without. Another stuffed animal. It was Thumper and he was super soft so we agreed and she was super happy to cuddle with him and take him home.

We stopped for one last picture and then made our way to the bus stop.

I don’t think that we had to wait too long to get a bus and then we were headed back to CSR for the night. Syd was really loving her Thumper.
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[thornton0511]

Dinner at Peppermarket

The first thing we did when we got back to CSR was head to Peppermarket for some dinner. It was now after 7:30pm and we had seriously spent the entire day at DTD! It was a good change of pace from the everyday park touring and overall we had enjoyed the new twist to our vacation.
While we were there I thought this was the perfect time to give a walk though of what the peppermarket is like.

When you first walk to the food lines to the right is the salad, sandwich, and pizza areas. This is where you can order your customized salads.

In the middle of the area is the grill station. This is where you can get more of your main entrée selections for your meal.

To the left of this is the line for more of the authentic Mexican types entrees like nachos, quesadillas, etc.

And then on the far left corner is the dessert and pastry station. This is where you get gigantic cookies and yummy churros.

Directly behind the food stations, and in between the seating area, is the beverage station and registers.

This is also one of the places you can pick up or purchase your refillable mug for your stay.

The soda station is located to the right of the sitting area and has two sides for you to use for your drinks and stuff.
That’s pretty much it.

After making our food selections we picked out a table….there were many to choose from considering the time it was lol.

Tonight I had decided to go with the crab cake sandwich which I had gotten from the grill station. This was a gamble and could have gone either way. But I am happy to report that it was amazing! I am seriously getting a rumbly in my tumbly just looking at this picture again!

DD went with the kids’ cheese pizza. There were no complaints.

DS went with the chicken Caesar salad again this time telling the CM to WOAH with the dressing a bit. It still looks like a ton of dressing though.

And DH went with the Ribs platter. He said it was pretty darn good, but I think my crab cake sandwich took the show this evening!

With our belies full we decided at this point to call it a night and head back to the room for a good night’s sleep.

This resort seemed so peaceful and nice in the evening. Today had been a good day. We had completely forgotten about our not so great situation the evening before. Everything was once again right with the world…well in Disney World at least.​

 

[thornton0511]

A Disney Surprise that Melted my Heart
So upon returning to our room this evening as we opened the door we were hit with an emotion that was just about as opposite as the one we had the night before……

Disney had left us a surprise!
Apparently the manager that we had spoken to earlier today wanted to go the extra mile and make our day more magical by leaving a gift for each one of our kiddos.

Cory’s present included a Disney tee, a Mickey head rice crispy treat, and Disney gummies

Sydney’s was the same except for the design and size of the shirt.
You guys there were not words to express how I was feeling at this very moment. I was literally speechless. For starters when we had our talk earlier this morning we did not have our kids present. So this wonderful lady somehow looked up our account and saw that we had our kiddos with us and their ages. Secondly when we had parted ways this morning we were so completely satisfied with how it went that in no way did we feel that anything else was even remotely necessary to make our stay here good. This is why Disney will always always be that much ahead of everyone else. They could have easily just left it how it was this morning and that was more that acceptable with us. But they went that extra mile, took that extra step, to make sure that this experience for us was as magical and happy as it could possibly be. No one has ever done anything like this for me or my family before. It was just so unexpected and I just…..speechless.
It was so hard for me to not pull out this woman’s card right then and call her personally to tell her how grateful we were and how much she was appreciated. But it was so late and I did not want to disturb. I could not wait until the morning though so I could tell her how much this meant to us. THIS IS WHY I LOVE DISNEY SO VERY MUCH!!!!
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[MEK]

Spending some time today trying to get caught up.

I am way back not travel day. Glad it all worked out perfectly with SWA.

Your kids are too cute.

I love POR. Such a great resort.

OMG - I didn't realize you were on hold for 2 1/2 hour to make your reservation. Yikes!